Connecting means for use in anchoring sheet piling



Feb. 22, 1966 D. o. NORTHRUP 3,236,054 CONNECTING MEANS FOR USE IN ANCHORING SHEET FILING Filed May 16. 1963 @WQIHW INVENTOR. DONALD 0. N0]? THRUP Artorney United States Patent F 3,236,054 CONNECTING MEANS FOR USE IN ANCHORING SHEET PILING Donald 0. Northrup, Mount Lebanon Township, Allegheny County, Pa., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 16, 1963, Ser. No. 280,981 2 Claims. (Cl. 61-49) This invention relates to an improved connecting means for use in anchoring sheet piling.

Conventional sheet piling includes a series of rolled steel sections which have interlocking joints. These sections are driven into the ground to form a vertical bulkhead, for example a cotferdam. The upper portions of the sections are attached to a wale usually embedded in fill near the original ground line. My invention is applicable to piling in which the wale is in the form of a structural member joined to the back of the sections as by welding. This type of wale is anchored with batter piles driven into the ground at approximately a 45 angle from the vertical and connected at their upper ends to the wale.

An object of my invention is to provide a simplified and more secure means for connecting a batter pile to a wale.

A further object is to provide a connecting means of the foregoing type which overcomes the need for extensive field fabrication.

A further object is to provide a connection wherein the lines of force in the batter pile and wale intersect on horizontal center line of the plane of contact. between the wale and the piling sections, thereby avoiding bending moments on the parts.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a sheet piling bulkhead in which my connecting means is used; and

FIGURE 2 is a section on line IIII of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1 shows a typical bulkhead formed of sheet piling sections. For purposes of illustration, an excavation 12 is shown to the left of the bulkhead and unexcavated ground 13 to the right. The lower edge of the bulkhead is shown as anchored in the ground at the bottom of the excavation, and the upper edge as lying near the original ground line 14. Optionally a fender 15 of timber or the like is fixed to the top of the bulkhead on the excavation side. Nevertheless I do not intend my showing of these details to limit the invention. A wale 16 is fixed to the bulkhead a short distance above or below the ground line, for example by welding or with bolts. A series of batter piles 17 are driven into the ground 13 at an acute angle from the vertical (preferably about 45 and are connected at their upper ends to the wale. The connecting means is constructed in accordance with my invention and is described hereinafter. Preferably the wale and batter piles are H-beams, although other styles of wales can be used.

My connecting means includes a pin plate 19 welded to the underside of the wale 16, a cap 20 welded to the upper end of the batter pile 17, a pair of spaced bracket plates 21 welded to said cap, and a pin 22 pivotally connecting the bracket plates and pin plate. The pin plate 19 fits in the space bounded by the two flanges and the web of the 3,236,054 Patented Feb. 22, 1966 wale 16. I weld a stiffener 23 in the corresponding space on the upper side of the wale opposite the pin plate. The two bracket plates 21 receive the pin plate in the space between them. I proportion the parts so that an extension of the central axis of the batter pile 17 intersects both the central axis of pin 22 and the line along which the flange and web of the wale 16 meet at a point P. Thus the lines of force F and F intersect centrally of the plane where the wale contacts the piling.

When installing a bulkhead, I first drive batter piles 17 and then attach the previously assembled caps 20 and bracket plates 21 to their upper ends. Preferably I weld pin plates 19 and stifleners 23 to the wale 16 beforehand at locations corresponding with the batter piles. I position the wale on the batter piles and insert pins 22 to anchor the wale. I excavate around the tops of the batter piles as needed to place the wale, and subesquently fill this excavation. I drive the sections of the bulkhead 10, using the wale as a guide, and attach the sections to the wale. The pivotal connection minimizes the risk of damage caused by secondary stresses, since it eliminates the possibility of transmitting bending movements to the wale if the batter piles bend.

While I have shown and described only a single embodiment of my invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sheet piling installation which includes a bulkhead formed of interlocked sections, a wale formed of a structural member having a flange which is attached to the back of said sections and has a plane of contact therewith, and a batter pile formed of a structural member extending at an acute angle from the back of said bulkhead to anchor said wale, the combination therewith of means connecting the end of said batter pile to said wale, said means comprising a pin plate fixed to the underside of said wale, a cap fixed to the end of said batter pile, a pair of bracket plates extending from said cap and receiving said pin plate between them, and a pin pivotally connecting said pin plate and said bracket plates, said batter pile having a central axis which when extended intersects both the axis of said pin and the center line of said plane of contact.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 in which said structural members are H-beams, and including a stiffener fixed to the upper side of said wale opposite said pin plate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,045,112 6/1936 Upson 6139 2,772,539 12/ 1956 Sandberg 6146.5 2,865,180 12/1958 Nielsen 6149 2,880,588 4/1959 Moore 6149 FOREIGN PATENTS 843,701 8/1960 Great Britain. 478,788 7/1929 Germany.

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner. JACOB SHAPIRO, EARL .l. WITMER, Examiners. 

1. IN A SHEET PILING INSTALLATION WHICH INCLUDES A BULKHEAD FORMED OF INTERLOCKED SECTIONS, A WALE FORMED OF A STRUCTURAL MEMBER HAVING A FLANGE WHICH IS ATTACHED TO THE BACK OF SAID SECTIONS AND HAS A PLANE OF CONTACT THEREWITH, AND A BATTER PILE FORMED OF A STRUCTURAL MEMBER EXTENDING AT AN ACUTE ANGLE FROM THE BACK OF SAID BULKHEAD TO ANCHOR SAID WALE, THE COMBINATION THEREWITH OF MEANS CONNECTING THE END OF SAID BATTER PILE TO SAID WALE, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A PIN PLATE FIXED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID WALE, A CAP FIXED TO THE END OF SAID BATTER PILE, A PAIR OF BRACKET PLATES EXTENDING FROM SAID CAP AND RECEIVING SAID PIN PLATE BETWEEN THEM AND A PIN PIVOTALLY CONNECTING SAID PIN PLATE AND SAID BRACKET PLATES, SAID BATTER PILE HAVING A CENTRAL AXIS WHICH WHEN ECTENDED INTERSECTS BOTH THE AXIS OF SAID PIN AND THE CENTER LINE OF SAID PLANE OF CONTACT. 